SPOKANE, Wash. — J.P. Batista’s tip-in gave No.4 Gonzaga the lead late and Loyola Marymount’s Chris Ayer missed a layup at the buzzer to give the Bulldogs a 68-67 win on Monday night in the West Coast Conference tournament final.

The Zags (27-3) earned their eighth consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Loyola Marymount (12-18) had a great chance for an upset.

Trailing by one, the Lions inbounded the ball with 10.6 seconds left, and the Gonzaga defense bottled up Brandon Worthy in the corner. He found Ayer’s underneath, but he rushed the shot and missed badly.

Notes

UConn (27-2) moved into the No.1 spot in the AP poll for the second time this season, replacing Duke, which lost twice last week. The Blue Devils (27-3) dropped to third, their lowest ranking of the season. … Tennessee’s Anthony Passley and Jordan Smith were charged with possession of crack cocaine and suspended indefinitely from the team. Police officers trying to clear traffic near a Knoxville, Tenn., nightclub found 15.2 grams of crack cocaine in their car and charged the pair with possession for resale, a police spokesman said. … Cal Poly guard Trae Clark of Newark Memorial High was recognized as Big West Conference Freshman of the Year.

WOMEN

Marscilla Packer’s 3-pointer with 38.4 seconds left helped No.2 Ohio State stave off Purdue’s (24-6) frantic second-half comeback, and the Buckeyes (28-2) beat the Boilermakers 63-60, claiming their first Big Ten tournament title. … Britney Davis-White had a career-high 21 points to help the 12th-seeded Mountaineers (15-15) stun No.6 Rutgers (25-4) 56-40 in one Big East tournament semifinal. The Mountaineers will face No.6 Connecticut in the final, a 69-57 winner over No.13 DePaul.

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